Books

It doesn't matter to me which C book you use. I suggest you go to a bookstore and spend time looking through the C books, asking yourself ``could I learn from this?'' Be sure to check any book that you are considering buying to see whether or not it is written using ANSI C.
Below are some suggestions about books:

• The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie; Prentice Hall 1988, Second edition.
  This is the most famous reference for C. Very compact and complete. Many beginners find it impenetrable. You may want to own it eventually, as a reference, but you probably won't want to learn the language from it.
• Teach yourself C in 21 days.
  Many of my past students have raved about this book. They found it easy to understand.
• Efficient C Programming: A Practical Approach, by Weiss; Prentice Hall 1995.
  I haven't read it thoroughly, but it looks like it might be good.
• New C primer plus, published by the Waite Group.
  Recommended by some of my recent 228 students, who said that it gives extremely simple, clear explanations, starting with the absolute basics.